Judges rule against housing restrictions

INDIANAPOLIS -- The Indiana Court of Appeals has struck down Bloomington's ban on three or more unrelated adults living together, jeopardizing similar ordinances elsewhere in the state.\nIn an unanimous decision, the three-judge panel on Friday ruled that Bloomington's ban violates the Indiana Constitution.\nThe case involves a Bloomington landlord who let five Indiana University students live in his rental property. The city enforced its zoning ordinance, which was supported by a Monroe Circuit Court judge.\nAttorneys for the tenants argued that the ordinance was biased in favor of families and violated the state constitution's equal privileges and immunities clause, which protects against unequal treatment of different classes of people.\nThe appeals court agreed.\n"This is a significant issue, especially in college towns," said Michael Carmin, the Bloomington lawyer who represented landlord Peter Dvorak. "The ordinance was truly geared toward student rentals, and we don't agree with that."\nThe appellate court did not decree all such zoning ordinances unconstitutional.\nThe court faulted Bloomington's objective in limiting the number of unrelated adults living together: to control trash, noise and traffic.\nBanning a house full of six friends while allowing six family members to live together did not achieve that goal, the court said.\nJodie Woods, general counsel for the Indiana Association of Cities and Towns, said her organization would review the decision so it can offer advice to Indiana communities with similar ordinances.\nThe city of Indianapolis will review the decision but continue to enforce its ban on more than four unrelated people living together in a single-family unit, city attorney Scott Chinn said.\nThe Hamilton County town of Sheridan, about 20 miles north of Indianapolis, has found a way to avoid legal challenges but still address the issue, said Town Council President John Snethen said.\nInstead of pursuing a ban on four or more adults in a single-family residence, the town uses building codes to limit the number of people based on square footage.\n"If you own a nice house and someone moves in next door with 26 people, you're not going to like that," Snethen said. "We should be able to control that. It just makes good business sense"